Dr Bill Hayton
The scenes from earthquake-hit parts of central Myanmar are apocalyptic. At least 2,000 people are known to have been killed and unknown numbers lie buried in the rubble. Thousands of homes have been destroyed or damaged and key pieces of national infrastructure, from the Ava railway bridge between the cities of Mandalay and Sagaing to the airport at Naypyidaw, have been destroyed or rendered unusable. The costs of years of shoddy construction and poor maintenance have been made painfully obvious. The consequences of the events of 28 March will be long-lasting.
The earthquake is the latest in a line of tragedies to affect the people of Myanmar in the past few years. The hope created by the first democratic elections of 2015 has long since evaporated. In August 2017, the military and local militias killed thousands of Rohingya Muslims in the north-western state of Rakhine and hundreds of thousands more were forced to flee to Bangladesh. In February 2021, the military launched a coup and imprisoned the country’s democratic leadership, including Aung San Suu Kyi. During the four years since, the country has fragmented. Separatist ethnic armed groups have restarted dormant campaigns and more than 6,000 people have been killed by the military’s response.
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